Birmingham death tax plans scrapped by council

£20 mortuary charge would have cost more than it raised

‘Death tax’ plans to charge £20 per body at the Birmingham City Council mortuary have been dropped after it emerged it would cost more than it would raise.

Labour councillors proposed the charge as a way of closing a £40,000 funding gap for the council’s mortuary services and hoped that funeral directors would pick up the charge for storage and release of a body.

But after the charge was presented to councillors it emerged that it would cost £50 a go in officer time and paperwork, to raise an invoice and process the payments – meaning the council would lose about £60,000 and would have to raise the tax to £70 to cover the funding gap.

It was criticised by councillors on the licensing and public protection committee who described it as a ‘death tax’ and demanded a re-think.

However, the Cabinet initially decided to plough on – before eventually pulling the plug on the proposal.

Councillors have welcomed its withdrawal, especially as it emerged the department had money in the budget to cover the shortfall.

Opposition Conservative group deputy leader Robert Alden (Erdington) said: “Labour’s planned death tax was a callous, cold-hearted and frankly mean thing to do to families of this great city at a time of personal grief and tragedy.

“All of this was made worse when our campaign discovered that the council would be losing about £60,000 by implementing the plan in the first place.

“The Labour Council is realising that residents in this city will not stand for charges to go up,” he added.

A council spokeswoman confirmed that there will be no £20 charge, but warned that officials are now exploring further options to make up the shortfall.